Editorial opinion – Page 4
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OpinionWhy jet stalwart Embraer is embracing the turboprop
If the stars align, the world could have the first all-new large turboprop passenger aircraft for four decades within five years.
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OpinionAirbus wins the contest that never was
What’s wrong with a duopoly? Well, when one of the two protagonists drops out, it turns into a monopoly.
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OpinionFatality-free aviation remains distant dream
After an encouraging series of airline safety figures recorded around the middle of the last decade, some observers pondered whether the prospect of a fatality-free year could be a realistic short-term ambition for the industry.
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Opinion737 crash response needs transparency from Tehran
Given the rock-bottom relations between Iran and the USA, it is inevitable that the 8 January crash of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 near Tehran has become ensnared by the tension between the two.
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OpinionCan Lockheed repeat F-35 production success in 2020?
One year ago, many observers doubted that Lockheed Martin would succeed in keeping its aggressive production ramp-up for the F-35 on track, given the programme’s troubled past.
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OpinionChanging leaders does not solve all Boeing’s problems
Dennis Muilenburg took the Boeing helm in the summer of 2015 during a relatively benign period for the manufacturer. But as he departs, there is a very different atmosphere at the firm’s Chicago headquarters, where the ongoing 737 Max crisis still has many more questions than answers.
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OpinionNext decade will bring more ‘unknown unknowns’ for aerospace
Predicting which surprises the coming decade might hold for the aerospace sector may well be a hopeless task, but the events that will unfold through the 2020s may be hard pushed to match some of the drama experienced over the past 10 years.
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OpinionThe end of 2019 does not signal an end to Boeing's woes
Boeing had been hoping that its problems would be, if not be ended, then at least on the way to being solved as 2019 draws to a close, but that no longer appears the case.
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OpinionDespite 2019’s challenges, aviation continues to weather the storm
Boeing stockpiles undeliverable aircraft after a fatal crash grounds its most popular model and undermines confidence. Meanwhile, Airbus throws in the towel on the superjumbo era, Bombardier bows out of commercial aviation, Embraer nears the end of the road as an independent airliner-maker and Mitsubishi confronts reality – again.
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OpinionTen years after debut, can A400M sales take off?
It has certainly taken a long time, but Airbus at last looks to be entering smoother air with its long-troubled A400M Atlas tactical transport.
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OpinionThe weird parallel reality of the WTO spat
One of the most fascinating aspects of the World Trade Organization dispute has nothing to do with the boasts about penalties and tariffs, or the squabble over who gained the greatest advantage from government handouts – but rather the potential realities that might have materialised if the controversial financial support had never existed.
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OpinionWill technology transform efficiency of flight?
In his classic A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking freely admitted he struggled to visualise multiple dimensions – barely coping with two. If the physicist who upturned thinking about black holes, relativity and quantum mechanics could not quite grapple with the shape of the universe (or in his case, ...
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OpinionCan biggest 737 Max variant be a perfect 10?
Amid the safety crisis enveloping the wider Boeing 737 Max programme, it has been easy to lose track of the progress of individual models.
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OpinionEmirates shows restraint in latest order spree
Emirates is renowned for its huge aircraft orders, and this year’s Dubai air show was no disappointment. But dig a bit deeper and it quickly becomes clear that the airline has actually been quite restrained in its spending.
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OpinionSaab's GlobalEye keeps seeking out sales
For the second time in four short years, Saab emerged as one of the surprise high fliers at the biennial Dubai air show – but its repeat sales success with the GlobalEye surveillance aircraft was just reward for a decade-plus relationship forged with the United Arab Emirates’ military.
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OpinionIs 737 Max nearing a comeback?
When will the 737 Max fly again? For months, it seemed one guess was as good as the next. You might as well have asked someone off the street.
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OpinionReady for the next big tanker battle?
Much as an army cannot march on an empty stomach, an air force can have only limited effect without the range- and endurance-boosting support provided by in-flight refuelling tankers.
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OpinionWhy Trent issues still rattle Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce’s admission that its final fix for problematic parts on the Trent 1000 TEN engine will now not arrive before 2021 brings to mind Lady Bracknell’s famous quote from The Importance of Being Earnest.
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OpinionWill Air France fleet renewal include stretched A220?
Air France-KLM chief Ben Smith summed up one of the French flag carrier’s problems to investors during a briefing on its modernisation strategy.
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OpinionGarmin autoland system is next step toward pilotless future
Just as we did not wake up one morning to find department store lift attendants had disappeared, or light rail systems in our cities suddenly without drivers sitting in the cab, the advent of autonomous passenger aircraft is unlikely to be as much a revolution as a decades-long journey of ...